Araks River

From Free net encyclopedia

Aras, Araks, Arax, Araxes, or Araz (Persian: ارس, Armenian: Արաքս, Azerbaijani: Araz), is a river rising in Anatolia in Turkey, flowing along the Turkey-Armenia border, the Iran-Armenia border, then along the Azerbaijan-Iran border, finally entering Azerbaijan and falling into the Kura river as a right tributary. Its total length is about 600 miles.

Aras was chosen as the border limit between Persia and Russia in the Treaty of Golestan in 1813 by which the whole area north of that river was cut off from Iran and annexed to Russia. Iran and the Soviet Union later built a joint dam on this river at Poldasht area.

The Hellenized form Araxes is found in the name of the Kura-Araxes culture, a prehistoric people which flourished in the valleys of the Kura and Aras.

But many times it is the Volga river which is called Araxes especially in Herodotus` "History" first chapter - The First of Book the Histories, Called Clio. It is the river where the Massagetae defeated Cyrus.

By some, the river Araks has been associated with the otherwise unidentified Gihon river mentioned in the second chapter of the Bible.

The river Aras is also referred to in the song "Holy Mountains" on System of a Down's album entitled "Hypnotize".

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